Furniture glide



March 24, 1959 w. M. FISHER 2,878,509

FURNITURE GLIDE Filed May 7, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 {67 f l H I /0 m" 722 'l m [:2 mm "IIIIIIII! 551m '1 WI k v Z0 Whiter M.Fisher March 24,1959 w. M. FISHER 2,878,509

' FURNITURE GLIDE Filed May '7, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1 1 il j ulw H MINVENTOR Wler MiZ's/z 62" ATTORNEYS United States Patent FURNITURE GLIDEWalter M. Fisher, Sturgis, Mich., assignor to Sturgis Posture ChairCompany, Sturgis, Mich., a corporation Application May 7, 1956, SerialNo. 583,073

Claims. (Cl. 16-42) This invention relates to furniture legs and glides.More specifically, this invention relates to the lower end of afurniture leg to receive a glide and a cooperating furniture glidecomprising a single piece of molded plastic adapted to be secured to thebottom of the furniture leg or the like in locking engagement so as toprovide an effective leg and glide of pleasing appearance.

An object of this invention is to provide an inexpensive one piece glidewhich can be fixed securely to the bottom of the chair leg without theuse of tools.

Another object of this invention is to provide a glide which wheninstalled on the leg of a chair or the like presents a broad bearingsurface which will not mar the floor and which presents a pleasingappearance, streamlined to fit the contours of the chair leg.

Yet another object of my invention is to provide novel means forattaching a glide-holding plate to the lower end of a tubular leg offurniture. This new means permits attachment without the use of screwsor fasteners of any kind, but instead effects a secure attachment by thebeading of a portion of the lower end of the leg over tongues on theglide-holding plate.

Many times since the development of furniture made from sheet steelattempts have been made to provide durable, yet inexpensive andeasily-attached glides or end caps for the lower ends of tubularfurniture legs. United States Patent 1,482,205 to C. R. Uhl shows suchan attempt wherein a diaphragm is constructed across the opening in thebottom of the leg and a metal foot cap is subsequently bolted thereto.D. H. Chason in his US. Patent 1,930,223 similarly attaches his metalglide by the use of a rivet rather than a bolt. More recently, US.Patent 2,458,621 to R. E. Miller discloses another way of attaching aglide to a furniture leg by installing across the opening at the bottomof the tubular leg a plate having a central aperture with an inwardlyinclined bushing- Inserted into this aperture in snap engagement is theglide assembly comprising a rubber body with a rubber conical headhaving an adjacent reduced neck portion which after the insertion,engages the bushing. To the lower end. of the rubber body is crimped acup-shaped metallic glide.

3 My invention possesses the attributes of a glide which have been longdesired. First, my glide can be attached to a chair leg without the useof tools of any kind. Also the use of supplemental attaching means suchas bolts and rivets is not needed. Instead my glide is equipped with aplurality of studs which snap into aligned apertures in a plate acrossthe opening in the leg. In my glide, the stress produced in moving thechair about is not borne only by one stud or by a plurality of studs butlargely by the upwardly extending sides of my glide which engage theoutside of the chair leg. This failure is not likely to occur becauseany stress is not concentrated on a small area. Another advantage ofthese upwardly extending sides is thatthey present a smooth flowingappearance not present in earlier glides of the snap installation type.Finally, because it is made 2,878,509 Patented Mar. 24, 1959 from asingle piece of plastic, my glide is less expensive to make.

My invention is fully described in the following description, and whileits broader aspect is capable of embodiment in numerous forms apreferred embodiment thereof is illustrated in the accompanying drawingsin which:

Fig. l is a bottom view of the glide;

Fig. 2 is a top view of the glide;

F Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of- Fig. 4 is a sideview showing the glide attached to the tubular leg of a chair;

Fig. 5 is a top view of the glide in use, taken along the line 55 ofFig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view showing the glide in theprocess of beingafiixed to a chair;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along the lines 7-7of Fig. 5 showing the glide afiixed to a chair;

Fig. 8 is a plan view looking into the top of a modification of myglide;

Fig. 9 is a side view of the modification of my glide;

Fig. 10 is a side view of another modification of my glide especiallyadapted for use with legs which meet the floor at an angle;

Fig. 11 is a bottom plan view of the modification shown in Fig. 10;

Fig. 12 is a bottom view of a modified plate attached to the lower endof a furniture leg;

Fig. 13 is a side view, partly sectional, of the modified plate assemblytaken on the line 13-13 of Fig. 12;

Fig. 14 is a sectional view taken on the line 14-14 of Fig. 13;

Fig. 15 is a side view of a modified form of tached to a furniture leg;

Fig. 16 is a side view of another modified form glide attached to afurniture leg;

Fig. 17 is a fragmentary sectional view of a modifiation of my glideshowing a modified stud structure.

Referring to the drawings, Fig. l and Fig. 2 show my glide 10 in thepreferred form. It comprises an open glide I atbox-like member having abottom 12 and four sides designated generally as 14. The corners of thebox are preferably rounded to avoid any sharp contours which might marthe floor. Also, as shown in Fig. 3, the outside surfaces of my glidetaper inwardly toward the top as at 15 so my glide appears to blend moreevenly with the lines of the furniture to which it is attached (see Fig.4). From the upper side of the bottom 12 arise a plu rality ofperpendicularly extending studs 16 which may be similar. In use, thesestuds effect the securing of the glide to a suitable plate mounted onthe bottom of the furniture leg as will be described later.

In the preferred embodiment, my furniture glide is molded in a singlemolding operation from a plastic material. It is formed with means builtin to hold it in position on the bottom of a chair leg. This inexpensivemolding operation produces a product that has the desired deformed withan inward taper as at 18 approaching its' upper end. Below the taper andimmediately above the bottom'12 there is formed on each stud a reducedportion or neck 20. This neck 20 is necessarily of lesser diameter thanthe widest portion of the tapered area 18 for reasons that willpresently appear. There may be between the-:43

reduced portion 20 and the tapered portion 18 a vertical cylinder as at22 which serves to strengthen the lower-"end 1 of the tapered portion.An annular shoulder 24 is thus.

formed between the cylindrical portion 22 and the reduced portion 20. Tomake the studs more radially compressible for reasons which willpresently appear, each stud may be formed with a tapered axial bore asat 26 in the stud shown in cross-section of Fig. 3. The bore 26 extendsdownwardly to about the depth of the side wall 14.

In use, the glide cooperates with a plate as at 30 which is fastened tothe bottom of the tubular chair leg 32 (see Figs. 5, 6 and 7). The plate30 has apertures 34 which are suitably arranged to receive or be matedby the studs on the glide. Also the plate 30 may have a central apertureas at 36 to aid in removing the glide from the leg and also to reducethe amount of metal and weight of the chair.

Obviously, the plate 30 may be attached to the bottom of a furniture legby welding or other conventional attaching means. However, in apreferred attachment, the plate is held in position by crimping aportion of the leg sides into specially formed deflected areas on thesides of the plate. More specifically, the improved plate 40 (see Fig.12) is formed with deflected tongues 42 on each side intermediate thecorners and spaced from the stud-receiving apertures 44. These deflectedtongues 42 comprise simply a bent area in the plate between two slits asat 46 and 46'. The slitting and the deflecting may be done in onestamping operation. In the preferred form, the slits extend about A; toA of an inch inward from the margin of the plate 40, and deflection ofeach tongue amounts to from 30 to 45 degrees from the plane of the plateand can be especially effective if the tongue 42 terminates in a portionwhich is more or less parallel to the plate itself.

The attachment of the plate 40 to the chair is effected simply. As withthe plate 30, the dimensions of the modified plate 40 are the same asthe outside dimensions of the lower end of the tubular furniture leg.Thus, the plate 40 can be made to abut the mouth or opening of thefurniture leg in an even fit with no edges of the plate overhanging orextending beyond the sides of the furniture leg. The deflected tongues42 extend up within the tubular leg and their ends are adjacent theinside surface of the lower end of the leg. With the plate 40 thus inplace, the lower edges of the tubular leg adjacent the tongues 42 arepeened or otherwise bent over a at 48 to abut the underside of the endof the tongues 42. This peening is accomplished on each side of the'legadjacent the deflected tongues 42. In this manner, the plate 40 isretained in abutting relation to the bottom of the leg.

The manner in which the glide is attached to the plate is shown clearlyin Figs. 6 and 7. As Fig. 6 shows, the aperture 34 is of a diameterslightly greater than the reduced portion 20 of the cooperating stud l6and slightly less than the widest portion of the tapered area 18 and thevertical cylindrical strengthening portion 22. The first operation infastening the glide 10 to the chair 3?. is performed by aligning thereceiving apertures in the plate over the mating studs as is shown inFig. 6. The leg 32 is then pressed downwardly so that the plate isforced over the stud. In so doing, the stud is radially compressed untilthe apertured plate reaches the reduced portion 20. At this point thecylindrical area 22 snaps to its normal size above the plate 30 and theglide is held securely, its removal or displacement being prevented bythe abutment of the upper surface of the plate against the annularshoulder 24 of the stud.

With the underside of the plate 30 abutting the upper side of the bottom12, the sides 14 of the glide reach upwardly along the tubular sides ofthe chair legs. Preferably, the sides of the glide engage the sides ofthe legs in a close-fitting engagement so that the glide appears to beintegral with the leg and the sides 14 also impart additional securityto the glide, preventing lateral movement of the glide along the plate30.

Fig. 8 shows a modified glide 50 in which the studs 52 are formedwithout the axial bore as in the glide shown in Fig. 3. In thismodification, the entire glide is formed from a single blank ofsemi-rigid plastic as is the glide in Fig. 3. A side view of themodification is shown in Fig. 9 wherein the studs 52 project up beyondthe box-like sides of the glide. As shown in Fig. 15, the modified glideappears the same as my preferred form does when applied to a chair leg.

An additional modification is shown in Figs. 10 and 11. This modifiedglide is especially designed for furniture with legs which meet thefloor at an angle, for instance, the rear legs of an ordinaryfour-legged otficc chair. This modification is formed in exactly thesame manner as the more conventional glide except that its bottom has abuilt-up area at one side and, hence, the actual bearing surface 62 isinclined with respect to the plane of the bottom of the chair leg (seeFig. 16). As shown in Figs. 10 and 16, the sides of the glide may berounded as at 64 to curve down and meet the bearing surfaceartistically.

Fig. 17 shows a modified version of my preferred stud as used in theglide shown in Figs. 9 and 10. In this modified version the reduced areaor neck portion 54 is not as pronounced as in the preferred embodimentshown in Fig. 6. Also, the conical portion 56 is tapered concavely andthe axial bore is absent.

Thus, I have invented a new and improved chair glide which combines lowcost of production with ease of installation, a simple, secureattachments, and a pleasing appearance. I have also devised a furnitureleg structure including a base plate, said plate being simply andeconomically attached to said leg and said plate suitably apertured toreceive in locking engagement my improved chair glide. My inventionpresents to the industry a structure combining the features which havebeen so long desired.

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

1. A hollow tubular furniture leg of substantially square cross sectionand comprising four connected sidewalls,

the lower end of the leg being closed by a plate the margins of theupper surface of which abut the lower edges of the four walls of theleg, each side edge of said plate being formed with a pair of inwardlydirected slits, the area between each pair of slits being upwardlyinclined to form a tongue, the outer edge of each of said tongues beinginside said leg and adjacent the inside surface of one of said walls, aportion of the lower edge of each of said walls being peened inwardly sothat its inner surface abuts the lower surface of the adjacent tonguewhereby said plate is locked in position across the lower end of theleg, said plate having at least one aperture therethrough, said plateand the lower end of the walls of said leg being covered by a resilientfurniture glide comprising an open box shaped member having a bottom andupwardly extending sidewalls, said bottom being provided with at leastone upwardly extending stud, said stud extending up through saidaperture, the upper surface of said bottom abutting the lower surface ofsaid plate and the inside surfaces of the sidewalls of said glideresiliently hugging the lower ends of the walls of said leg.

2. A hollow tubular furniture leg as described in claim 1, wherein saidstud has a tapered portion at the upper end thereof, said taperedportion tapering inwardly approaching the upper end, said stud beingformed with a reduced neck portion in the area between said bottom andsaid tapered portion, said aperture being of lesser diameter than thewidest part of the tapered portion of the stud extending through it, andsaid aperture being of greater diameter than the reduced neck portion ofthe stud extending through it, whereby said stud lockingly engages saidplate.

3. In combination, a furniture leg and glide, said leg having acontinuous side surface thereabout and a ,bot' tom piece at the lowerend thereof, said bottom piece having upper and lower surfaces, and saidbottom piece having an aperture therein; said glide comprising an openbox-shaped member having a bottom wall and side walls extending upwardlyon all sides of said bottom wall, said bottom wall being provided withat least one upwardly extending resilient stud which has a taperedportion at its upper end, said tapered portion tapering inwardlyapproaching the upper end, said stud being formed with a neck portionreduced inwardly in all directions in the area between said bottom andsaid tapered portion, and forming an annular shoulder between said neckand said tapered portion, the aperture in said leg bottom piece being ofgreater dimension in corresponding directions than said neck and oflesser dimension in corresponding directions than the widest portion ofsaid tapered portion adjacent said neck, said glide being applied to thelower end of said furniture leg, with the stud extending upwardlythrough the aperture in the leg bottom piece, said shoulder engaging theupper surface of said leg bottom piece about said aperture and said sidewalls resiliently hugging the continuous side surface of the furnitureleg.

4. The combination as described in claim 3 wherein the inside surfacesof said sidewalls rise vertically from said bottom and the outsidesurfaces of said sidewalls incline inwardly and upwardly, whereby saidsidewalls taper in thickness, thinning; as their upper edges areapproached.

5. The combination as described in claim 3 in which a portion of thelower surface of the bottom of said glide is inclined with respect tothe upper surface of the bottom of said glide.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,603,876 Shapard Oct. 19, 1926 1,827,972 Darnell Oct. 20, 19311,915,249 Jorgensen June 20, 1933 2,110,005 Rees Mar. 1, 1938 2,194,653Gell Mar. 26, 1940 2,458,621 Miller Jan. 11, 1949 2,690,212 JakewaySept. 28, 1954 2,744,283 Reineman May 8, 1956

